Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed
Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed is the tweflth episode in the VeggieTales animated series, and the second installment of the Larry-Boy adventures. It was released in July 1999 on VHS formats and January 28, 2003 on DVD formats. Subtitled "A Lesson in The Power of Words", it illustrates how destructive false rumors or negative words can be, and conversely, how positive words can do good. It is a mild parody of Little Shop Of Horrors. Unlike other episodes with the VeggieTales Theme Song at the start, this is one of the episodes without Bob the Tomato at the countertop segments. Marc Vulcano, the animation supervisor for the film had just joined Big Idea Productions from Sierra On-Line, Inc. This video was the last VeggieTales production to be rendered entirely in Softimage. Plot The episode begins immediately with Percy Pea and Li'l Pea are leaving a movie theater. As they pause to think about what had happened the last time they were there, they are cornered by a shady character who asks them for a nickel. Percy refuses, but the Scallion then demands the money he is carrying for milk money. As the "Milk Money Bandit" escapes to the rooftops with his loot, he is cornered by Larry-Boy, who shakes the stolen money off the scallion and throws him into Officer Scooter's patrol car. Following this, Larry-Boy is busy reviewing his capture technique with Alfred when he accidentally knocks an unfinished plant off the ledge. The pot falls and breaks on the sidewalk while the plant gets caught on some electrical telephone wires on the way down, where a nearby woman is busy gossiping on the phone on the 2nd floor of the building, electrifying it, and then falls into the sewers where the strange combinations of electricity and gossip brings the plant to life. The next morning, Alfred is speaking at Veggie Valley Elementary. As his story comes to a close, he tells the teacher that he needs to go home and "recharge his batteries." Not quite understanding the figure of speech, students Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot come to the false conclusion that Alfred is a robot. As they are walking home, they run into a small talking weed who overhears the two children and talks them into sharing their secret with her. Similar weeds then began to appear throughout Bumblyburg, spreading the rumor and twisting the faulty assumptions of the citizens into fear of Alfred. At Larry Manor, Larry and Alfred are tending to the garden when Alfred heads inside to answer the phone. Another Rumor Weed appears and tries to spread the word about Alfred, but Larry doesn't let it get a word in edgewise. Alfred then calls Larry in to answer the phone: Mayor Blueberry informs him that strange weeds are growing all over the city and saying strange things about Alfred. Suiting up as Larry-Boy, the hero drives into action. Larry-Boy manages to find a Rumor Weed and attempts to prune it, but weed-whackers and shears have no effect. Alfred then tells him to scan the weed by putting his plunger-ear by it, which only serves to get Larry-Boy thrown away by the seemingly-tiny weed's strength. Back at the Larry-Cave, Alfred reports his findings and reveals that all the weeds are connected by a vast root system leading to a giant "Mother Weed" deep underground. Realizing that the Weed has the ability to smash sidewalks and crumble walls, they decide they must attack it underground, at its root. Fortunately Alfred has made some modifications to the Larry-Mobile that enable it to bore holes in the ground. Larry-Boy is oblivious as Alfred guides him into the underground sewer, and once inside the sewer they lose contact with each other. The Mother Rumor Weed finds him by his crashed vehicle, and Larry-Boy, unaware of how to stop her, spoils his water gun and gets battered and bruised. Meanwhile, Alfred has gone into Bumblyburg to try to get help. There he is astonished to find that the usually kind citizens are afraid of him and saying strange things about him. They ignore his desperate assertions that he is not a robot; the rumor has grown out of control. When the giant Rumor Weed crashes up out of the sewer and grabs Alfred, they believe he is getting what he deserves. Dad Asparagus arrives on the scene and recognizes the absurdity of the rumor. He figures out that Junior and Laura accidentally started the rumor and explains to them that God doesn't want us to tell stories that can hurt he want us to spread nice words. Given a second chance they decide to spread good words and are able to convince the citizens of Bumblyburg that Alfred is not a robot at all, but a very nice man. As the word spreads, the Rumor Weed turns into a flower and Alfred is saved. Larry-Boy then emerges from the sewer beaten to a black and blue pulp and is quickly hushed by everyone else before accidentally starting the rumor again by saying, "Oh hey Alfred...somebody told me you were a...robot?" The episode is wrapped up in the Larry-Cave with Alfred and Larry-Boy. They reiterate that God wants us to say nice words about people rather than telling stories that can hurt. The verse is on the Larry-Computer "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise works healing" (Proverbs 12:18). Trivia * The song playing in the police car is I Can Be Your Friend from Are You My Neighbor? * At the beginning, the street signs outside of the theater read Vischer St. and Nawrocki Rd. * Written and Directed by PHIL VISCHER Animation Direction by RON SMITH Producer JON GADSBY Production Coordinator JENNIFER COMBS Production Assistant HOLLY VICKERY Art Direction AARON HARTLINE DANIEL LOPEZ MUNOZ JOSEPH SAPULICH Storyboard Supervisor LUIS CONTRERAS Storyboard Artists LUIS CONTRERAS EVERETT DOWNING 3D Layout Supervisor STEVE LEEPER 3D Layout Artists STEVE LEEPER CHARLES RAMSEY RYAN WILLIAMS Model & Texture Supervisor DANIEL LOPEZ MUNOZ Model & Texture Artists AARON HARTLINE DANIEL LOPEZ MUNOZ JEREMY VICKERY Additional Modeling JOSEPH SAPULICH Character/Prop Engineering MIKE LAUBACH RON SMITH JEREMY VICKERY Director of Animation MARK VULCANO Character Animation ANDY ARNETT THOMAS DANEN ROBERT ELLIS JOE McFADDEN BRIAN MOLL RON SMITH NATHAN TUNGSETH MARK VULCANO Additional Animation AARON HARTLINE MIKE LAUBACH CHARLES RAMSEY JEREMY VICKERY RYAN WILLIAMS Lighting/FX Supervisor DANIEL PATRICK O'BRIEN Lighting/FX Artists NICOLE ALLEN RICHARD GOUGE ADAM HOLMES DANIEL PATRICK O'BRIEN Digital Matte Painting EVERETT DOWNING DANIEL LOPEZ MUNOZ JOSEPH SAPULICH Director of Technical Development HENRY VERA Render Management and Software Development KEN GREENE SCOTT O. NELSON Additional Render Management JENNIFER COMBS Digital Assets Supervisor PATTY O'KELLEY Video Editing & Sound Effects JOHN WAHBA Score KURT HEINECKE PHIL VISCHER Ochrestated Conducted and Produced by KURT HEINECKE Instruments KURT HEINECKE Audio Engineering and Editing ADAM FRICK Content Consultant SCOTTIE MAY Ed.D. Executive Producer PHIL VISCHER Executive in Charge of Production MARK BUCZEK Category:VeggieTales episodes